Computing & IT Interview Questions & Answers

An email was sent to all the university students to apply for Bank of England through Sanctuary Search (a recruiting company). I applied through them, this entailed filling the online application form, I found it quite long and time-consuming but you have to do it. After my CV and the application form were accepted, the recruiting company sent me a link to the tests. I did my tests and after about a week, I was invited for the assessment centre. Until this point, all the communication was with the recruiter but on my interview day I got to talk to one of the employees who were also the senior manager in the team that I was joining.

What are the main issues facing the UK economy?

For the interview, think ahead of examples of when you had to use your organisational and/or analytical skills. Choose good real-life examples to demonstrate each of the skills that you claim you have. In terms of preparation, read all the publications that come onto the company's website and keep up-to-date with regulation changes, new bills, etc. Follow the markets (in particular debt and foreign exchange markets) and tailor your answers according to the job market and job needs.

The assessment centre consisted of two parts.
-Group exercise: It was really easy, just giving you some details of a project, each one of us was given a separate part of it and then we all had to agree on a decision together. Timing: 30min total.
-Interview: was also very easy, some standard competency based questions, about teamwork and communication mostly, and then some IT question from a person from that department, nothing too technical, mostly general questions about IT, your own opinions etc. Also make sure you know what bank does, they asked me questions related to banking industry and my comments on it, to which I had absolutely no answer. Lack of research. Timing: about 1hr.

Initially I had a phone interview which was competence based. Basically you get questions like: Tell me about a situation when.. someone was treated unfairly? What did you do? etc Very few questions about your previous work experience.

Then I have been invited to assessment day where I had lots of different questions like, there are 4 groups of questions they ask, technical, competence, and two more which I can't quite remember.

Tell me about a situation when someone was treated unfairly, what did you do?
Tell me about your presentation skills, what feedback did you get after your recent presentation?
Why do you want to work for HP?
Describe a situation when you had to make a difficult decision, what was the outcome?

You have to look at their corporate values + volunteering they do, you will probably get questions about it.

We had interviews first, then 20min long presentations, then about 10 people in a group for a group task which was quite simple.

My initial telephone interview was conducted by a graduate recruiter and last no more than 30 minutes. The recruiter was really friendly and down to Earth who made me feel relaxed prior to the start of the interview.
The questions consisted of "What is it that attracts you to the scheme?", "Why do you want to work for this company?" and the typical "Describe a time when you worked in a team during a difficult period".

Upon completion of the telephone interview I was invited to an assessment day which required me to prepare a presentation out of a few chosen topics which was emailed over and had to be submitted prior to the day. The assessment day consisted of several aspects these being: One-to-One interview, presentation, analytical tests and a group task.

The most difficult question faced during the day were the questions asked following the presentation. The graduate members listening in were trying to make sure you knew what you were talking about incase you simply copied and pasted some information into your slides. The interviewer was very friendly so you should not worry about any difficult questions during that likewise with the group work. Just be yourself and take a moment to think of your response before giving your final answer, there is no pressure so stay calm.

Based on my assessment day, just be yourself! everyone was level headed and would be able to spot if you're trying too hard.
I'd recommend preparing yourself for the telephone interview by writing your potential answers to the questions I've listed above, but don't worry about the telephone interview or assessment day as everyone was friendly and made you feel at ease.
Best of luck.

Before the day started, we were told that we wouldn't be competing against each other which made everyone feel at ease. Every single member of staff who was around that day made us feel very welcome.
We first began the day by having analytical tests, mostly multiple choice questions which lasted approximately 30 minutes after this we were then taken one by one (at various times) to conduct our presentation to a group of 5 recent graduate scheme members. For those who were not doing their presentations were given the opportunity to talk to recent graduate members who were able to tell us about the potential work if we got the job. The actual presentation last about 15 minutes followed by a few questions aimed to make sure you know what you're talking about.
The actual interview lasted 45 minutes and felt more like a friendly conversation talking about your past and interests; The interviewer and I spent approximately 15 minutes talking about music so it's nothing to dread.
Finally, for the group work, we were split into several groups of 4 and were given 1 hour to analyse a task a decide upon one final solution out of a list of 3 and then present the final solution along with our reasoning; This was conducted in front of a group of senior members who are looking mainly for your team working skills in addition to your problem solving skills.
When the day was over we were told that we'd be informed within 3 weeks of the outcome and were thanked for participating.

I applied through a recruiter and the process took about 2+ weeks. I began with applying through one of the recruiting agencies and then someone got in touch with me. I was then told that I had made it through to the final interview which was a 3-4 hours interview at their Paddington office with 3 people. One of them being HR, another one was a senior manager and some other person who asked me behavioural questions. The interview began with the first person asking me about myself; about how I found out Cerner and what do I know about them. I had over researched the company and the person was really impressed with my knowledge. I had also done my final year project on healthcare industry which is what they do, hence that made a good impression on the interviewers as well. It lasted for 45 minutes and then I was given a short break before I could go to the next person.
The second person was HR who was interested in my background, my interests alongside competency based questions etc. This interview lasted for about 30 minutes, where I had to provide my details such as nationality, right to work etc.
The final interview was with the senior manager who asked me about my academic background, my employment history and all the technical questions. This covered transferrable skills, interpersonal skills etc. I used STAR technique for most of the answers and related the examples back to my experience. This interview lasted for about 50 minutes I think, and then I was told that recruitment agency will get in touch in about two weeks. Hence,
To add to that, all three of them gave me an overview of the company from their perspective and that was an interesting aspect as it differed for each of them.

Describe a difficult decision and how you made it.

I used STAR techniques for most of the answers, make sure you use it as it gives them the impression that you analyse each situation you have been through in your career/life and that you understand how you would go about solving it if you faced it again. Another thing is don't panic if you don't know something, just say you don't know. We are graduates with no experience or may be one year if you do placement, so they don't expect us to know everything.What they do expect is that you should be capable of and eager to learn new skills.

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There are two interviews, the first one is more of a discussion about your skills on the CV along with some competency questions and a case study and lasts for 45 minutes. The second round interview is however, includes an in-depth interview of your skills, a presentation on a technical problem.

For the first round interview the team lead himself came to interview me (as the other person wasn't feeling well) and went through the skills that were relevant to his team.

In the second round interview, there were two people one was a senior consultant and the other one being an ex-graduate. This time they were delving deeper into technical questions to see if I was the best fit for the role. This was then followed by a 20 minutes presentation including 5 minutes for Q&A. I was also given a vague idea on what the team does and how I would fit in it if I were to get this role. Towards the end, they left it open for me to ask any questions that I had.

Make sure you know what you have on your CV and sell it as much as you can. There will be questions about the skills you put on your CV and in the second round interview, the interviewers do go into a lot of details. So don't put something on your CV that you are not entirely sure about. They look for certain skills to see if you will fit their team.

You are given a training which depends on what team you join, so don't worry if you are not a master. They don't expect you to know everything as a graduate, but you should show that you are passionate enough and eager to learn.

Make sure ato network with members of staff

The assessment centre was very friendly. I was given a tour of the office and introduced to staff in the department where I was applying to.
I then had a panel interview with three members of staff that lasted about an hour; and was then given 30 minutes to prepare a presentation .
I then had a 1-on-1 interview with the recruiting manager which was very informal and lasted about 45 minutes before spending 30 minutes delivering the presentation I prepared early.

The overall interview's first stage was a competency test, 1hr long detailing technical and intricate attributes. Challenging but very thorough, elaboration of your Microsoft package skills, why you were applying for the role and scenario type situations. The second stage of the interview, was a half an hour Skype interview with a company representative, I didn't get this far so I am unable to offer feedback unfortunately.

Numerical questions were very much competitive and the time was very limited. So I could not get much time to finish all the questions.

Well, everyone knows this already and if they don't they should, if you are going for an interview with a prospective company, take some time out to really research the company, learn some important facts and figures, it shows dedication and enthusiasm which always impresses the interviewer.

Another would be to be completely thorough in your application, screen the responsibilities and duties before applying. Make sure you tick at east 95% of their overall request before clicking the apply now tab.

No assessment centre for this interview, they only had 3 stages of the application process available, which was the initial application, the timed competency questions and the Skype video interview.

My experience did not involve an interview other than the ones during the Assessment Center.
After the initial screening I was given a week to complete 2 online assessments; 1 numerical and 1 abstract reasoning.

Competency based questions were not easy. I was asked different types of questions which were very much indirectly related to my course.

Be prepared for your Assessment Center interviews and presentation; you have adequate time at your disposal.

Prepare typical Competency Interview Questions.
Regarding the Technical Interview: Research the company's Website about their technology and methods of production, this will hopefully get your thinking started.

After a long wait I was invited to an Assessment Center, which involved a Presentation, a Competency Interview, a Group Task, a validating Numerical Test and a Technical Interview.
We were split into two Groups and we were handed separate schedules covering the day. For my Group:
1)9:00 - Numerical Test first thing in the Morning; time allowed around 25mins for 30 questions.
2)10:30 - 10-minute presentation, which we had time to prepare before the Assessment (almost 10 days). Topic was about ourselves.
3)11:00 - Competence Interview. Standard Procedure but personalized to each candidate at that time.We were asked questions coming from a scenario booklet. i.e. Tell us a time when you were really stressed, how did you cope, how did you plan, etc.
4)12:30 - Lunch break. The opportunity to mix with the assessors and chat was given to us.
5)13:30 - Group Task. The task was to build a Tower, able to withstand the weight of a water bottle. It was required to reach at least a height of 1m.Materials available; A4 paper, A3 Carton Paper, Scissors, Sticky Tape, Pencils, String and Plastic Cups.
6)14:30 - Final Task: Technical Interview. The interview was personalized and adjusted to the level of knowledge and experience each one of us had. Questions started out easy but progressively became difficult reaching a point, from which onwards we could not answer. This is done for them to see how you react and think to something you have not seen before.

My telephone interview lasted for approximately 25-30 mins. Initially, BT went through some HR material regarding my application for security reasons. They then went on to ask whether I could meet the rigorous of IT consultancy, as there is a need for a huge amount of flexibility. After, I was quizzed about my CV and academical background. What followed next was standard competency based questions in relation to the organisations values, which can be found on the website. My questions were based around team-working and problem solving.

The tasks in the assessment centres were quite challenging. I was not sure about some of the questions which were completely based on technical knowledge.

Go through the companies values on their website and this should give you a good indication of the competency based questions that are likely to come up. Make sure you give a professional presentation of the case study.

BT gave a brief interview of themselves and the program upon the arrival of all the candidates. What followed next for me was a face to face interview with a senior member of BT. Again, this was similar to telephone interview, however, before attending the assessment centre you are given a case study in which you are to present to your interviewer. Next i completed a numerical test (SHL). Finally, a group exercise was last on the agenda. I got a group size of 4 people, although the other team had a size of 5. You are given a case study, in which you have to decipher the relevant information and make a decision with your team about an outcome.

This was a telephone interview, and it lasted about 45 minutes. I was given a call on my phone to let me know that they will call me on Skype. Then the person went through my personal details and started the interview process. It began with competency questions followed by questions on the knowledge required for the job role.

Competency questions such as, "Tell me a recent technology that can be beneficial to our company, "seemed as if these were the key questions they assessed me on. I was also asked some pure software engineering questions which i think were asked because they wanted to see whether i will be a nice fit for the role. I wasn't expecting these sort of questions as the email said there will be core competency questions to see if I am eligible for the final assessment centre.

One on One interview was completely based on Data Structure and programming which was quite difficult for me.

Ensure that you know about what is required from the role you are applying for. E.g. Being a software engineer what are the core responsibilities and what is the knowledge you would need to have.

I didn't get through to the assessment stage, but I was told if I did get through the telephone interview I would have been given a call to attend the assessment centre at the London office

I applied through a recruiter and they forwarded my details to interroute, soon I had an interview call.

As a standard, the first communication was a phone interview. Within one week I received a call to attend a face to face interview. I had the interview at the Liverpool Street office with one of the senior managers. He was an easy going chap and created an informal atmosphere during the interview as I was very nervous. There were technical skills along with analyst type role questions. At this point I wasn't sure what happened as I applied for a technical role and wasn't really prepared for Business analyst type of questions. Then I raised this question and he said he will interview me on both of these skills and whichever I fit best in, he will put me in that role, provided I was good enough to be selected. I think they had a business analyst role available, may be the one I applied for was gone but they didn't reveal the secret.

When buying a bat and a ball, you have paid $110. You know now that the bat was more expensive by a 100. How much was a ball?

There are some tricky questions if you come not prepared, to check your behaviour under stress.

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